Oakland Athletics minor league manager Webster Garrison diagnosed with coronavirus

Webster Garrison (Google Images)

Oakland Athletics minor league manager Webster Garrison of Marrero, Louisiana is currently in hospital recovering from coronavirus according to Katherine Acquavella of CBS Sports, Garrison is reportedly breathing on his own and has been taken off a ventilator in a Louisiana hospital.

Garrison was scheduled to manage one of the two teams affiliated with the Athletics in the Arizona League of Rookie Ball this season. The Athletics have two affiliates in the league. Both the Arizona Athletics Gold and the Arizona Athletics Green play in the Arizona League East Division. However due to the fact that the United States has been hammered by coronavirus, and the state of Arizona might host all 30 Major League Baseball teams this season, there is a possibility that there may not be an Arizona League in 2020.

Currently there are 23, 118 cases of coronavirus in the state of Louisiana and 1 213 deaths. According to Gordon Russell and Sam Karlin of nola.com, 70% of corinavirus victims in the state of Louisiana are African-American.

Garrison played one season of Major League Baseball. He was with the Athletics for one season in 1996 and played in five games. However in 10 plate appearances and nine at bats, Garrison only reached base once and that was via a walk in a 7-0 Athletics loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on August 3, 1996. In four games defensively, Garrison played three games at second base and one game at first base and committed one error.

Garrison was initially drafted in the second round of the 1983 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He played his first Major League Baseball game at the age of 30.